Statement at Confirmation Hearing

Madame Chair and members of the committee: It is an honor to appear before you as the nominee for Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues. I am grateful to President Bush and Secretary Powell for nominating me for this assignment. If confirmed, I will serve our country by protecting and advancing the principles on which this nation was founded.

I want to recognize my parents Drs. Jacques and Jeanine Prosper who are present. Without their courage, sacrifice, love, and support I would not be here today. Their story is one that inspires me as I move through life. Thirty-five years ago they found themselves in a dreadful situation. We were living in Haiti under an oppressive regime. The country was governed by terror under the rule of Papa Doc Duvalier and his Tonton-Macoute. Basic human dignity, which we today take for granted, was denied. Individual life had little value. Freedom of speech was non-existent and movement was controlled. State-sponsored killings and disappearances became the norm. Not wanting to raise their children in such an environment, my parents remembered America where they briefly lived a few years before and where I was born. Longing for a better life, they made the painful decision to leave our homeland, family, and friends behind to come to this great nation. As my father once said, "once you taste freedom you cannot live without it." This story is a sober reminder to me of a life that could have been and a life that should not be.

Growing up, my parents stressed responsibility and accountability. I learned that no one is above the law, either that of the land or that of God. I applied these lessons in my 7 years as gang prosecutor in the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office and as a federal prosecutor pursuing international drug cartels.

Then in 1994, my life took an unexpected turn. A friend and colleague, Steve Mansfield, returned from visiting Rwanda just a few short months after the genocide which saw 800,000 people killed in a 100-day period. Steve described to me the horrors that characterized the massacres. I was appalled. He urged me to join the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, which I did in 1996. Shortly after my arrival in Rwanda, I was appointed lead prosecutor for the first case of the court. This was also the first genocide case in history before an international tribunal. In preparation, I met with dozens of victims and survivors who recounted to me the abuses they suffered. I heard stories of families being systematically slaughtered because of their ethnicity. I heard accounts of women being raped and sexually mutilated because they were Tutsi. I stood above mass graves that contained the remains of hundreds of bodies. I quickly learned that what I was seeing was not only a crime against Rwandans, but truly a crime against all of humanity.

After a 14-month trial, my team and I won a conviction against the accused Jean-Paul Akayesu for the crimes of genocide and crimes against humanity — extermination, murder, rape, torture and other inhumane acts. We set additional new legal precedent by establishing rape, under certain circumstances, as a form of genocide and crime against humanity. In the end, we brought justice to a people who were marginalized, dehumanize and destroyed.

For the past 2 years, I have worked in the Department of State’s Office of War Crimes Issues as the special counsel and policy adviser. I have traveled and witnessed the aftermath of atrocities committed in Sierra Leone, Sudan, Sri Lanka, East Timor, Kosovo, and Cambodia. Having seen mass graves and walked through refugee camps and burned-out villages, I’ve come to realize that millions of people count on U.S. leadership to make a difference.

Members of the committee, there are enormous challenges ahead. The world continues to be threatened by forces whose purpose it is to destroy hope. Militias and paramilitaries continue to systematically kill and terrorize civilian populations for political and personal gain. And governments participate or willingly turn a blind eye to such atrocities. They do this because they do not believe in accountability. The United States is called upon to stand by her principles and to be a leader in the effort to prevent and punish these abuses.

If confirmed, I will pursue credible justice and help develop policy aimed at encouraging states to exercise responsibility and adhere to the rule of law. It is my dearest hope that one day all families will raise their children absent the fear of torture, absent the fear of extermination, and absent the fear of the worst crime known to humankind -- genocide. In the end, it is my dream that one day my work will become obsolete.

Madame Chair, members of the committee, I thank you for your consideration.